


Seeing Stars

by octopus_fool



Series: Yuletide Cheer [27]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Elvish Medicine, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slight Elvish Uncanniness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 03:58:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17093594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopus_fool/pseuds/octopus_fool
Summary: Living with a workaholic is hard, especially if you are an Elvenking and used to getting all the attention you want.





	Seeing Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 21 of [Arda Advent](http://ardaprompts.tumblr.com/post/180626386876/join-me-in-creating-wintery-fanworks-about), the prompt was "stars".

Thranduil knocked on the door to the room that served as Bard’s workspace and audience hall, but he didn’t wait for an answer to enter. 

Bard looked up from his pile of parchments distractedly. “Oh, hello.”

“Hello, love,” Thranduil replied and draped himself across the chair opposite from Bard. 

Bard smiled at him and then went back to the parchment he had been reading. 

Thranduil assumed an even more lascivious pose. Bard turned the page.

Thranduil ran a hand through his hair, since Bard was usually crazy about his hair. Bard frowned and jotted something down on a spare piece of parchment. 

Thranduil briefly tested how sturdy and heavy his chair was. Satisfied with the result, he swung himself around the back of the chair in the slow motion of that dance from Lothlorien he had once had to watch. Bard dipped his feather in ink and scratched out something he had previously written.

Thranduil returned to his previous pose. He sighed, then coughed.

Bard looked up. “Is there anything in particular you wanted or did you just want to say hello?”

“Come outside with me and look at the stars.”

Bard sighed. “I have to finish this.”

“You can do that tomorrow morning.”

“No, I can’t. You know I have to help with the rebuilding then.”

“Can you just let the others do that?”

Bard fixed him with his most disapproving look. “This is my kingdom. I don’t deserve my people’s respect if I let them do everything for me.”

Thranduil did not want to give up yet. “Why don’t you do this tomorrow evening then, when it is too dark to keep on building?”

“Because more work will have piled up by then. Really, I need to do this today.”

“At least come and eat some dinner.”

Bard sighed. “Alright. Once I finish reading this contract.”

Thranduil leaned back in his chair and watched him work.

 

“So what are you working on?” Thanduil asked as they walked towards the kitchen once Bard had finished that particular piece of parchment.

“Contracts on building materials. Particularly dull and...”

There was a loud noise thump and Thranduil turned around just in time duck back through the doorframe he had just walked through and catch Bard before he tumbled to the ground.

“Oww...” Bard complained, carefully feeling his head. “I can see stars.”

“That’s not how I wanted you to look at the stars,” Thranduil said softly, taking a close look at Bard’s forehead.

“Why is it that you managed to walk through that door without hitting your head even though you are much taller than I am?”

The damage did not seem to be too bad, though there would probably be a bruise. “I duck. You should try it sometime.”

Bard groaned, but from a different kind of pain. “I hate you.”

“Are you feeling stable enough to stand on your own then? You are kind of heavy.”

“Hey, not everyone can be as light as a twig,” Bard protested. “But yes, I can stand on my own.”

Thranduil carefully let go of Bard, ready to catch him again should he feel dizzy. Instead, Bard exaggeratedly ducked his head and stepped through the offensive doorframe.

Thranduil had him sit down on a chair in the kitchen as he cleaned the scratch on Bard’s forehead despite Bard’s protests that he was fine.

“So you don’t have a headache then?” Thranduil asked.

Bard hesitated just a moment too long. Thranduil frowned. “You do, then.”

“Just a slight one.”

“Well, go ahead and eat some dinner. In the meanwhile, I’ll make you a tea against the headache. Do not worry, you have an Elvenking at your side and will be well again in no time at all.”

 

Bard pulled a face as he tried the tea but drank it obediently. “What’s in here then?”

“Mostly willow bark.”

Bard frowned. “Willow bark?”

“What’s wrong with that? Is it poisonous for humans?”

Bard laughed and immediately winced. “No, I just would have expected something fancier from the fabled Elvenking, I probably would have gotten the same thing from Hilda.” He considered for half a moment. “It did taste a bit better than her version though.”

“I added some meadowsweet and peppermint. And you will heal faster because it was prepared by me.”

“Hm, of course. Well, I’m back to my work then.”

Thranduil reached out a hand to stop him faster than Bard could even look. “You’re injured and under medication. You are not going to get any work done today anyway.”

“It’s just willow bark tea.”

“That was prepared by an elf. And my point about you being injured still stands.”

“What do you want me to do instead?” Bard asked.

Thranduil smiled at him. “My offer of looking at the stars still stands.”

Bard rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Alright, if you are going to be so persistent about it.”

 

Thranduil watched as Bard stared wide-eyed at the stars, lying next to Thranduil on the terrace of one of the unfinished houses.

“The stars... they are so bright!”

“Hm,” Thranduil replied, smiling and gently running his hand over Bard’s head.

“There are so many of them too! There have never been this many before. Why did I never notice them before?”

Thranduil chuckled. “Did you ever stop working long enough to look at them?”

That got him an elbow in the ribcage. “Of course. I had enough time to look at them in Lake-town. There were never this many before!”

“There were, you just couldn’t see them. Remember, you are on elvish medication.”

“This is all the medicine?!”

“Partly. Chances are that you are also seeing them more clearly because you are in my presence.”

“I’m magically seeing with the eyes of an elf because I took elvish medicine and am lying next to you?”

“Something like that, yes. If you want to know the details behind it, you’ll have to ask someone like Lord Elrond, someone who has spent time studying the workings of mortal bodies.”

“So you always see the stars like this?” Bard asked.

“Yes.”

“No wonder you and your people are always going on about the stars.”

Thranduil laughed and ran his hand through Bard’s hair. “I would have shared the experience with you earlier and with less pain.”

Bard huffed but cuddled close to Thranduil. “You really are insufferable sometimes, but I still love you.”


End file.
